Why can't the Sox develop starting pitchers as well as the Rays? in the past four years we've come up with two -- Lester and Buch -- while the Rays have brought up -- what? -- six or seven top starting pitchers?

I was always a huge fan of Masterson and really thought we could have traded someone else to get Victors rental. Gabbard/Hansen no big deal in my opinion and Kelly has yet to prove anything. Renaudo, Weiland, Miller? Still not thrilled so I agree to some extent the Rays do a lot better job at developing pitchers every year.

Matt Barnes, will be our best young pitcher if he can remain healthy. Hes a smart kid with three solid pitches so hes worth wating for.

In Response to Re: Sox lose to rays in pitcher evaluation : I was always a huge fan of Masterson and really thought we could have traded someone else to get Victors rental. Gabbard/Hansen no big deal in my opinion and Kelly has yet to prove anything. Renaudo, Weiland, Miller? Still not thrilled so I agree to some extent the Rays do a lot better job at developing pitchers every year. Matt Barnes, will be our best young pitcher if he can remain healthy. Hes a smart kid with three solid pitches so hes worth wating for.Posted by craze4sox

Agree with you about Masterson. We could really have used him this year. It is really a shame that he was traded for Martinez who wasn't with the Red Sox for very long. Actually, Martinez is also someone who we could use this year. Although, I am not sure where he would be playing. He is having a good season this year.

If healthy, I'd gladly put Beckett, Lester, and Buchholz up against anyone the Rays or any other team could put out. What's killing us is the injuries, and the fact that guys like Lackey, Miller, and Wake who should rightfully be #5's and #6's have become the middle of our rotation. Given that fact, it's hardly surprising to see TB gaining ground on us.

Didn't TB get higher draft picks during all of those years and went after the best pitchers available?Posted by Myles-Standish

Not necessarily. They were on the cusp of winning when most of the core of today's pitching staff were ready in the high minor leagues. They draft well with good evaluators and don't rush their development and force feed them to the big leagues.Remember the name of lefthander Matt Moore who is expected to be a top rated starter.

Problem the Rays face is that they can only keep their players (a few exceptions) for six years and then they can't afford to pay them. Notice they don't develop hitters (a few exceptions) which is why they can't consistently win in the AL East. Great pitching still needs a few runs a game to win.

Problem the Rays face is that they can only keep their players (a few exceptions) for six years and then they can't afford to pay them. Notice they don't develop hitters (a few exceptions) which is why they can't consistently win in the AL East. Great pitching still needs a few runs a game to win.Posted by traven

In theory you are right, but name one TB player that left for free agency and went on to do good things. In general, the players TB trades before free agency have done poorly as well. It's uncanny.

More PAs from Joyce, the recent play by Jennings, and decent play from Fuld has replaced Crawford's 2010 numbers pretty closely. Kotchman has replaced Pena's numbers and then some. Farnsworth is no Soriano, but Soriano has not done well this year due to injury. Hellickson and Cobb have replaced Garza seemlessly. They miss Bartlett, but being able to move Zobrist to 2B and Rodriguez to SS made the keystone combination pretty even between 2010 and 2011.

Also, TB keeps getting picks everytime they lose a FA. They keep cycling them into their big lead club from FAs departing long ago. The ones they got in this draft will replace the ones they lose 3-4 years from now.

BTW, a certain poster, who shall remain nameless, projected the Rays would win 90-92 games this year. He was ridiculed endlessly by some silly clown, who insisted the rays would win about 86-88 games. Yes, pages and pages of nonsense based on a 4 game differential in projections.

The Rays are on pace for exactly 90 wins, and the clown has his 14th new name since the season start.

(Yes, the same nameless poster also projected the Yanks would win 92-94, and the race would remain tight to the end. Man, some guys never get anything right!)